It’s as if Nigeria’s drug abuse stats are not frightening enough, drug abusers have scaled up the status to barbarism. They (drug abusers) now sniff steam from toilet pits to get ‘high’. This shocking and disgusting trend among youth drug abusers is a sequel to the abuse of hydrocarbon. Because human feces contain hydrocarbon, the steam from the toilet is hydrocarbon, so, they open pits and sniff the steam to get high in a highly despicable manner.
Drug addiction, not stemmed, can become a stem of the hopelessness of the abuser. It can become the universal solvent of the life of the abuser. It’s capable of dissolving everything, including, works, relationships, homes, and marriages, and ultimately dissolves the body and soul of the abuser. The continuous use of psychoactive substances among adolescents and youths in Nigeria has become a public health concern. Drug addiction in Nigeria is a social disorder whose spread needs to be curtailed. It is like an accident waiting to happen in the Nigeria’s fragile health sector.
A drug expert and manufacturer, Pharm. Jimoh Bioku CEO Bioraj Pharmaceuticals, in an exclusive interview with Citizen Comfort, said there are two angles to drug abuse. There is the misuse of drugs, that’s when you don’t follow the recommended dosage. And there is abuse when you take drugs not recommended. Drugs, according to Bioku, are chemicals designed to have effects on the health of the taker. Adding drugs is supposed to perform a therapeutic function in the body, so when it doesn’t see a therapeutic work to do, it must do another work.
How Nigerians abuse drugs:
-Senior Population: Old age comes with ailments arising from depreciation in the functionality of body organs like the liver, kidney, pancreas, respiratory and digestive systems, and bones. These conditions don’t require drugs but nutritious food, exercise, and good rest to perform replacement therapy for the depleting organ cells. However, due to economic reasons, some seniors take to drug abuse to help them keep up with manual jobs in old age.
-Adolescents and Adults: The most active population and the biggest abusers of drugs. Pharmacist Bioku said “By nature, there is a limit to what your brain cells, and body setup can carry. If you reach that limit, you have to go and rest. But here, they want to do more, they want to appear superhuman. Something that your nature can only do 80 you want to do 200. So, they take all kinds of drugs to raise energy, including hard drugs, particularly cannabis and stimulants to remain active and work tirelessly”. This, he said, results in mental health issues
-Children: Parents and caregivers have been accused of drug abuse on the children by giving an overdose of syrups that will cause the child to sleep long hours so that they can attend to social-economic issues.
Risk Factors
Here are some predisposing factors to the menace of drug abuse.
Peer Pressure: Individuals who belong to social groups where substance abuse is normalized or encouraged are at an increased risk of using drugs and alcohol.
Gender: Men are more likely to engage in substance abuse than women in Nigeria.
Depression-Stress and Trauma: Some individuals turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to cope with emotional pain and stress.
Overachieving: This is common to youth drug abusers, particularly celebrities. Tendency to abuse drugs to do more than innate capabilities
Cultural acceptability & Easy availability of drugs
Genetics: If the family has a history of drug abuse.
Environmental: Poverty, lack of education, and lack of employment.
We need to address these factors through sensitization, preventive measures and targeted interventions to arrest the spread of drug abuse. If we don’t do so, the negative effects on Nigeria and Nigerians’ health and socio-economic status might be catastrophic accidents waiting to happen.
The harmful effects of drug abuse.
Health (Physical): Damages organs- liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, infectious diseases from hard drug injections, sexual and reproductive health problems from high-risk sexual behavior
Health (Mental) depression and anxiety symptoms, hallucinations, delusions, cognitive impairment that can lead to suicide and or murder.
Socio-economic: High crime rate, reduced work productivity (absenteeism & increased workplace accidents), health care cost, family disruption (divorce/ separation with a significant effect on children and loved ones)
Source: Dare Agbeluyi, Chief Publisher.
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